Casino Chatter in Alabama

 For 202 years, Alabama has been fairly 'pure'.....without any real attachment to casino operations or organized gambling.  

Well....to be honest, we always had illegal gambling operations around....over the entire 202 years.  It's just that we didn't let Grandma or the local Baptist minister know of our immoral activities. 

Drinking, carousing, bad-boy activities, 'raising cain' and going on a spree has always been in our blood.

In recent weeks....down at the capital....chatter started up by a state senator, Del Marsh.   He's got a bill up to have five official casinos running, and even suggesting to add two more.

The income?  Well...he says $500-million from casino operations, fees, etc.  

Where the money would go?  Generally, the bulk would go to junior college scholarships, more broadband internet access, plus-up on rural health care, some added mental health care, and then folks say 'other programs' (never really explained.  

Who would run this?  The suggest is that a seven-member Alabama Gaming Commission would be in charge.  No one says who'd be on the Commission or what you'd pay them (my assumption is that it's a $100k a year salary, with probably $25k in travel allowance.

An Indian reservation in this deal?  That's the funny part of the story.  We have a couple of Indian groups in Alabama, with most all leading back to the Creek Indians.  This one group....the Poarch Band (group) of the Creeks....apparently own some property in NE Alabama, and they figure to be one of the five getting a license to run a casino.

So the key question one might ask (if you were from Alabama)....are people fired-up to go and spend a lot of time at casinos.  I would suggest that this is a mixed bag.

It's a lot of Baptist influence in the state and I'd suggest that 25-percent of population aren't going to be receptive to casino 'fun'.  There's another 25-percent of the state that I think are firmly attached to a low-income level and could never afford more than one visit a year to a Casino.  

So from the folks left....is there enough business to run potentially seven casino operations?  I have my doubt.

In the state of Georgia, there is just one single casino.  Mississippi?  36 (yeah, a lot).  Tennessee?  None.  It would appear that some hope exists that folks from Tennessee and Georgia....would come over and gamble to some extent.

As for the money dished out to the state?  There's already an argument brewing that it's not fair that only rural areas get the healthcare money.....that urbanized Alabama areas ought to get the 'loot' as well.

I sat and pondered over this.  You see....in the majority of Alabama counties, you'd label them as mostly rural, and maybe one single general hospital in the entire county.  I would suggest in roughly forty of the sixty-seven counties....it's slim picking for healthcare (especially if you started talking mental issue or the 'crazy-factor').  If you lived around Mobile, Huntsville, or Birmingham?  You've got a fairly good number of clinics and hospitals.  

But the other side of this story is that the bulk of poor sections of the state....are also around most of the urbanized areas.  Yeah, it begs a lot of questions, but it's the reality of the situation.

Where this whole casino thing goes in the end?  I suspect the $500-million income that the folks are talking about.....might be way over the reality of the situation, and that it might only be in the $250-to-$300-million range. All these programs that they chat over, for education, fast internet and more healthcare?  They will be programmed up the first year, and come to a serious shortfall by year two/three.  More taxes coming?  To make up for the shortfall?  Yeah, I'd suggest by 2024, there's some 5-percent bump up on income taxes coming because the programs never got enough Casino 'loot'.

Who gets appointed to this Commission?  Don't even go and bring that topic up. I'd suggest within a decade....at least five individuals will be investigated by the state or Feds....to have some charges drawn up.  Knowing our luck, at least two of the first seven members of the Commission will be former Baptist ministers or retired NCAA football coaches.  

But here's the thing.....instead of these stupid excuses we've made about secret trips to Vegas.....we can just stay in-state and spend our wealth at local casino operations....sipping cheap drinks and hooking up with lusty women from Brazil or the Ukraine.  

Our gambling habits requiring rehab treatment?  Well...maybe in this healthcare business....free counseling and rehab will be available for our gambling addiction.  

Finally, for those guys who dreamed of the $17...steak buffet deal where you got a dozen 3-star steaks thrown on the platter....casino dinner options will be a curious thing to experience.